After dealing with the man, Bai Youyou ignored the cheering children beside her, turned around, and walked away. She passed straight through the pipe network that blocked the light, walked into a narrow alley, and kicked away a few cans that rolled to her feet.

At the end of this alley stood a simple shack, built from abandoned iron sheets, connected with a simple mortise and tenon structure and tied with coarse hemp rope. The door was also a rusty piece of iron, and a stale odor wafted out from the slightly ajar gap.

She entered the house, her eyes adjusting to the dark, and the scene within gradually became clear.

The room was sparsely furnished, like an empty tent. In the center sat a female mechanical figure on a chair, her head drooping. The humanoid body wore an old robe, and her head was replaced by an old television set.

Sensing someone approaching, the screen of the old TV lit up, a steady line in the middle fluctuating to form an anthropomorphic expression '(*^—^*)'.

"Yiyi, you're back?"

Bai Youyou said nothing.

The role she played was that of a child living on 'Gale Street', named 'Bai Yi', also the leader of those kids. Of course, the so-called Little Ghost Gang couldn't compare to truly vicious gangs, most members were homeless children who banded together for warmth. They organized to beg for food from residents or rob passing tourists.

Her identity was also that of a Bionic, but unlike other Bionics, she didn't have an identification code.

Because she was the creation of this female Bionic before her. The other's model was very old, going back hundreds of years. Bionics of that era didn't have humanoid appearances or reproductive capabilities, they only carried simple emotion modules, unable to think or handle complex issues, much like the mass-produced robots commonly seen in films, with metal bodies exposed.

It was this female Bionic who scavenged various parts from the junkyard to piece Bai Yi together.

Cervantes did something similar; his creation Sancho was also his work. However, Sancho's identity was registered, while Bai Yi's was not.

In Skyline City, privately manufacturing Bionics and not registering them is a major crime. Once discovered, Hera would send RoboCop to destroy them.

She couldn't understand why this old-model Bionic, with only a simple emotion module, would create Bai Yi. Surely, they couldn't grasp emotions or responsibilities. Despite her own dire conditions, she still picked up scraps in the gang-ridden streets near the junkyard to slowly raise Bai Yi.

Just as she couldn't comprehend what her own mother's purpose was in creating her.

After all, she too was just an android.

"Yiyi, you seem a little different?"

The female Bionic asked with some confusion, and Bai Youyou surprisingly saw bewilderment and unease in the expressions of that TV.

"Feeling a bit unwell," Bai Youyou replied with a fabricated explanation.

「Side quest accepted: Investigate and determine 'Bai Wei'an's' true identity.」

Seeing the prompt box pop up, Bai Youyou learned the name of the female Bionic in front of her.

Following the prompt, she walked to the corner, dug out small fuel cells from a pile of waste, replaced Bai Wei'an's, then picked up a small scraper to scrape the rust off her body.

Bai Wei'an's old modules had long been damaged through prolonged operation. Apart from the emotion module still supporting mental functions, she had essentially lost mobility and could only sit in the chair.

As a child, Bai Wei'an raised Bai Yi. After Bai Yi could take care of herself, it became her turn to care for this female Bionic, regularly cleaning her coating, replacing batteries, and occasionally chatting with her.

After finishing everything, Bai Youyou got up, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door. She had little time to waste here; she needed to meet up with the others quickly.

"Yiyi, where are you going?" Bai Wei'an asked.

Bai Youyou reached the door.

Once again, the synthesized electronic voice floated from behind.

"Yiyi, can you stay and chat for a bit, I'm a bit lonely."

Bai Youyou looked at the expressions on her TV screen, slightly dazed.

She couldn't quite tell whether this request was due to her 'family companion model' programming or stemmed from the emotion module's request.

"I will be back, Mom." She thought for a moment and replied.

Bai Youyou left, Bai Wei'an slowly lowered her head, and the expression on the TV screen changed from '(*^—^*)' to '（;_;）', and soon fell back into sleep mode.

...

Walking down the street, looking at the repair shops and junk shops on both sides, commotion came from not far away. Residents stood on both sides, and Bai Youyou noticed a squad of RoboCops searching each house. They forced their way in if met with resistance. She saw an elderly, stooped man being pulled out and falling outside the door, and as his son angrily questioned, he was shot dead.

"I really don't know what's going on in this street, a bunch of Awakened Bionics hiding without being dealt with? Do the Tag Catchers eat for nothing?"

"These Awakened have nothing to do with us. I've already reported to Hera, we need to find the chief soon..."

Bai Youyou silently lowered her head and blended into the crowd, trying to quickly pass through.

As she navigated the stream of people, passing by a mechanical figure, they suddenly looked over, and sharp eyes pierced through the crowd to land on her.

Bai Youyou raised her head, expressionless, slowly clenching her fists.

"What is it?" a companion asked the mechanical figure beside them.

"Nothing, just a kid without an ID code, they're all over the place here." The person shrugged and moved their gaze away.

Bai Youyou exhaled lightly and quickly passed through.

"Who doesn't have a code, who are you calling without a code?"

In an instant, emotions flared. The pent-up feelings of residents dissatisfied with their ways ignited, and the furious crowd surrounded the squad of RoboCops. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The leading RoboCop fired a shot into the sky, loudly scaring off the advancing residents.

"Get the hell away from me, you damned pests!"

The others swung their Riot Control Sticks, viciously beating down those leading the charge. The sticks moved so fast they almost left afterimages, stopping only after cracking open the heads, scattering red and white coolant, circulation fluids on the ground.

"Take one more step in my way, and I swear I'll finish all of you off, you bunch of code-less bastards. Not wiping you out on the spot is already my limit, now scram!"

The intimidating roar was extremely penetrating. The retreating residents looked at each other, and the bloody scene deterred anyone from taking another step forward.

Just as the squad of RoboCops was preparing to push through the crowd and delve deeper inside, the roar of a motorcycle engine boomed like thunder in the middle of the crowd.

"Don't let them leave!"